A manufacturing documentation release package of a PCB typically includes, inter alma, drawings with title blocks, revision blocks, note blocks, different board views, board parts lists or components and their placement, callouts for the various parts, drill patterns, drill charts, layer stacking, and the like. The various drawings of the manufacturing documentation release package may include various board views with part reference designators, a parts list (e.g., a bill of materials) cross linked to the reference designators, note blocks for detailed assembly instructions, and callouts for detailed notes of the assembly of specific parts.
Conventional methods and systems for generating a manufacturing documentation release package for PCBs typically utilize CAD programs that are not specifically designed for creating the documentation needed for the release package. These conventional techniques typically rely on CAD programs wherein various views of the PCB circuit board are translated between CAD programs to create multiple static images of the various PCB views. The various details of documentation for the fabrication and assembly of the PCB are then often manually entered on the translated image. This process typically requires a separately copied design for each view of the PCB board which must be separately documented. A skilled PCB engineer must ensure the accuracy of the documentation release package and therefore the process of creating a single manufacturing documentation release package can take weeks to complete.
Moreover, any design changes to the PCB board mandates that the entire process be repeated (e.g., re-creating each separate image) and the supporting documentation manually re-entered because there is no link between the static images and the PCB database. The static images have no structured hierarchy for the selection and annotation of the documentation. The PCB views, chart, notes, and the like, of these images cannot be re-positioned within the document. Prior systems and methods for creating manufacturing documentation also have no modern document authoring functionality and do not provide electronic file sharing or internet access. Moreover, the final release package is typically prepared in paper format or delivered via a PDF® file format. Finally, existing CAD systems are clearly not designed for providing documentation to create a complete manufacturing documentation release package. Prior art CAD programs such as AUTOCAD®, and the like, are cumbersome and difficult to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,409,666 (“the '666 patent”) by one or more of the inventors hereof and the assignee hereof, incorporated by reference herein, overcomes the problems of the conventional methods and systems for generating a manufacturing documentation release package for PCBs. As disclosed therein, an automated PCB manufacturing documentation release package system includes a PCB database with PCB CAD data associated with a CAD file of a PCB design. A shape engine displays simultaneous views of a given PCB from the PCB database that includes different views of the PCB and retrieves the data in the PCB database to create reconfigurable objects displayable simultaneously in the forms of different views of the PCB such that any change in the design of the PCB is reflected in the different views.
The '666 patent teaches templates which can be customized by a user to define how the PCB database is represented in a particular view. However, the templates as disclosed in the '666 patent do not provide any way for data entered by the user into the template to be retained. Thus, when the design of a PCB changes and a new PCB CAD file reflecting the changes is loaded into the PCB database, the user-entered data in any templates is lost and must be re-entered. Such a process is time consuming and expensive.